


J 



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COMMITTEE ON 
PUBLIC INFORMATION 



THE SECRETARY OF STATE 
THE SECRETARY OF WAR 
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 
GEORGE CREEL, Chairman 




SPECIAL SERVICE 
FOR EMPLOYERS 



Bulletin No. 3 



March, 1918 



16 Jackson Place 
Washington, D. C. 



Labor's Attitude 

This bulletin contains the wonderful address of 
Samuel Gompers, president American Federation 
of Labor, delivered at the Lexington Avenue 
Theater, New York City, February 22, 1918. 

It should be carefully read by all who wish to 
know the attitude of organized labor toward the 
war. Additional copies may be secured gratis by 
addressing 

Division of Industrial Relations, 



y^^^-fK^jil^^ 



Director 



FOR DAILY USE 

Every employer should have the daily OFFICIAL BtTLLETIN. This 
gives a valuable record of the important events, reports, and orders of the 
United States Government. The subscription price for an entire year is 
$5.00. Every business house should have a file of these for ready refer- 
ence. Subscriptions should be addressed to E. S. KOCHESTEIl, Editor, 
16 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C. 



c^l 



D„ Of D. 

NOV 19 



:X 






K'^'-^ 



Address 



by 

Samuel Gompers 



(Address delivered by Samuel Gompers, President American Federation of Labor, on Washington's Birthday, 
Feb. 22, 1918, at Lexington Avenue Theater, New York City.) 



I doubt that there existed, or now exists, in 
all the world a man who is so pronounced a 
pacifist as was I, I belonged to every peace 
society of which I knew anything. An officer 
in some form or other of each of them, a 
speaker of nearly all of them, within the 
sphere of my opportunities. In addition, as a 
union man, a labor man, an internationalist in 
spirit, I had believed, came to believe, that it 
would be impossible for such a war to have 
occurred at any time after the international 
understanding and pledge of the workers of 
nearly all the civilized countries; and I really 
believed in the pledge, in the spirit of it. * * * 
I had permitted myself to live in a fool's para- 
dise. I believed that when men solemnly 
pledged themselves and those in whose name 
they had the authority to speak, they would 
go the limit in their own countries to prevent 
a rupture of international peace. * * * j 
was so in love with peace that I could have, 
without flinching, died for the cause of peace. 
[Applause.] 

AMERICA IS AN IDEAL. 

Almost out of the clear sky came this declar- 
ation of war, and I found that the men who 
had pledged to me and mine, my fellows, flying 
to the colors of the greatest autocrat of all 



time, the modern buccaneer of the world, the 
type of the intellectual scientific murderer, to 
fly to the colors upon his order, to attack the 
brothers whose lives they vouched to protect. 
I awoke. From then until now and until the 
peace of the world is assured I count myself 
transformed from an ultra pacificist to a liv- 
ing, breathing, fighting man. [Applause.] 
No one who has known me fairly intimately 
has ever accused me of running away from aii 
honorable contest. And it is not of much in- 
terest what any one man believes or is, but 
that which he tries to inculcate upon his fellow 
citizens. I believe that in our country we have 
the greatest opportunities existing of any 
country upon the face of the globe. [Ap- 
plause.] America is not perfect ; the Republic 
of the United States is not perfect; it has the 
imperfections of the human; and inasmuch as 
we are not perfect, we have not been able to 
make a perfect, democratic Eepiiblic ; but it is 
the best country on the face of the earth, 
[Applause.] 

America is not merely a name. It is not 
merely a land. It is not merely a' country, nor 
is it merely a contirient. America is a symbol ; 
it is an ideal, the hopes of the world can be 
expressed in the ideal — America. [Applause.] 
The man in America, with the opportunities 



47100—18 



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afforded, with the right of expression, with the 
right of determination, with the right of cre- 
ating a political revolution by well-ordered 
methods, who will not or does not appreciate 
that it is his duty to stand by such a country 
in such stress and in such a storm, who is un- 
willing to stand up and be counted as a man in 
this fight for the maintenance of these ideals — 
is unworthy of the privilege of living in this 
country. 

I have no quarrel with the man or the group 
of men who differ with me, or the course which 
I pursue, in anything. I doubt that there is 
anyone who welcomes expressions of dissent 
or disapproval more than I do. I am willing 
to battle with him mentally, argumentatively, 
in any honorable way that is provided among 
men, self-respecting men and women. Con- 
structive criticism is of the greatest benefit to 
those who are criticized. It is the nagger, the 
mean, contemptible, nagging one that has no 
purpose other than negative and destructive 
that is unworthy the consideration of decent 
men and women. [Applause.] 

HOW WAR WAS DECLARED. 

Who declared war in Germany? Was it 
even that mugwumpery called the Eeichstag? 
[Laughter and applause.] No; not even that. 
But who declared war in Germany? Was it 
the people of Germany? No. It was the 
Kaiser and his immediate military clique. 
That autocratic clique by one accord deter- 
mined that the time for which they had been 
planning had arrived, and then was the time to 
strike the blow. Now, you have no need to 
enter into a full discussion of all the matter 
which may be of vital interest, and no doubt 
•you know them just as well, if not better, than 
I do, but here is the point: In the United 
States of America it was not a Kaiser, a King, 
or even the President of the United States who 
declared war; it was the Congress of the 
United States, the men and the woman 
[laughter] elected by the people of the United 
States. [Applause.] There must be lodged 
somewhere in the Government the power to 
declare that its life is endangered and there- 



fore has the right to strike a blow in the de- 
fense of that country. In our Eepublic that 
authorit}^ is -s'ested in the Congi-ess of the 
United States — the Congress elected by the 
people of the United States, the Congress 
elected, in many States, by the votes of the 
men and the Avomen of those States. * * * 

In truth, the state of war existed from Jan- 
uary, 1916, when the attacks- were made upon 
our industrial plants and our transportation 
lines [applause], the murdering of our men 
and women and our children in cold blood. 
If that did not constitute a state of war I 
would like to know what did. The point that 
I want to make clear is this : That it was not 
an autocrat, it was not the President, but that 
it was the representatives of the people, elected 
by the people to the Congress of the United 
States, the only authority recognized by the 
Constitution of our country, who realized the 
situation as it was and declared that a state 
of war existed between our Republic and the 
Imperial German Government. That body au- 
thorized the President to use all the available 
means and all the forces of the country to carry 
into effect and purpose the resolution of the 
Congress of the United States, and to make 
good this declaration that the democracy of 
the United States is not impotent or incompe- 
tent to defend itself. [Applause.] 

Until the only authority in the country had 
decided the question whether we should rec- 
ognize that war existed or not, until that dec- 
laration was made it was the privilege, as it 
was the right of every man to express his own 
view whether we should recognize this fact and 
go to war or not. But when the constituted 
authority in our Eepublic declared war, that 
was a decision of the people of this country, 
and from that decision there is and can be no 
appeal. [Applause.] To follow the thought 
that it is now permissible to discuss whether 
we should continue in the war or to retreat 
from it reminds me of the situation as it now 
exists in Eussia. 

WHAT ABOUT RUSSIA 7 

I think chat every American, every liberty- 
loving man and woman throughout the whole 



'■'?—' 



world, was thrilled when we learned that the 
Russian people had overthrown the Czar and 
his Empire and established a Government 
based upon some sort of democratic concep- 
tion. Not long after, under the leadership of 
so-called radicals, they undertook to institute 
in the army the democratic thought that before 
any battle was to be undertaken the soldiers 
should vote upon it. [Laughter.] In theory 
that might be fairly good. As an academic 
discussion, it does not sound bad [laughter] ; 
but when you have opposed to you a well- 
organized gang of scientific murderers [ap- 
plause], who have their guns leveled at you, 
that is not the time to discuss whether you 
should defend yourself or not. That is the 
time to fight [applause]. * * * Anarchy 
prevails in Russia, and the radicalism of the 
Bolsheviki of Russia has given the people, 
not land, not bread, not peace; and instead of 
finding this great people of Russia standing 
erect and fighting for their homes and for 
their lives, we find them without power or 
will, helpless before the Kaiser's hordes and 
the forces of autocracy, powerless to maintain 
their own freedom or to realize their own 
ideals. Yes, this radical, this radical gang 
there, and those who are showing their heads 
here, to tliem must be laid the charge of the 
undoing of the great people of Russia. If the 
so-called radicals of America would have their 
way, you would find in our United States the 
same condition as it is in Russia now. 

I am rather fond of life. I have had 08 
years of it, and I am not tired of it at all. 
[Applause.] I want to live. I don't know of 
anything better than living. I am not anxious 
to find out, but I don't want to live when I 
can't maintain my own self-respect. Indeed, 
I feel that I could not live in the atmosphere 
of unfreedom. There have been at least two 
occasions in my life when I was threatened 
with imprisonment; on two different occasions, 
and each for a year, because I undertook to ex- 
press my judgment, and we were then at peace, 
not at war. But I undertook to express my 
judgment, express my opinion as an American 
citizen against a decree issued by cue of our 



courts in a private controversy between two 
interests. I merely mention it, as I was will- 
ing to take a chance, whatever that may mean, 
for the maintenance of the principles of free- 
dom of expression and freedom of the press. 

So, just imagine — it does not take much to 
see the point at issue — if the German mili- 
tarist system could win — it can't, but if it 
could win, how would that victory be accom- 
plished, or what would its immediate result 
be? I know that we have been living in the 
thought that we are so far removed from the 
whole world that we are perfectly safe. But if 
it were possible for the German militarist ma- 
chine to be so efficient that it could conquer 
France and England, the first result of that 
conquest would be, without question, the tak- 
ing over from France' and England of their 
combined navies. Without taking over these 
navies, as the result of German conquest, she 
could not be the complete Avinner ; and imagine, 
with the military forces, the navies of Eng- 
land and France, and her vessels of commerce 
and transports, what would become of the 
vaunted safety of the home and fireside of the 
American people? 

Referring to a remark made by Harry Lau- 
der, and of which I was so glad to hear our 
honored Secretary speak, he said, in speaking 
to a lot of our boys in the camp : " Don't you 
for a moment imagine that you are going to 
send your troops over to save France or to save 
England. When you send your troops over 
you will be saving yourselves. Either you 
must fight over there or you will fight over 
here." [Applause.] 

To me this war has quite a different mean- 
ing than almost any other war in history of 
which I have read. It began through the 
machinations of the German Kaiser and in 
the splendid responses made by France and 
England and Belgium. In Prussia they were 
all exulting, but when the Republic of the 
United States entered into this world struggle 
it ceased to be a war and became at once a cru- 
sade for freedom and justice and liberty. 
[Applause.] I hold it to be the duty of every 
man to give every ounce of energy in fighting. 



6 



in producing, in helping in any way that he 
can, that this crusade shall be a triumph 
for the world. If we may not be able to abolish 
war for all time, at least let us make the con- 
ditions such that a war of this character may 
never again occur, or at least shall be long de- 
ferred. 

LABOR AND OUR INDUSTRIES. 

For j^ears and years the workers of America, 
realizing the position in which we are placed 
in this most favored country of ours, pressed 
home upon the agencies of government, the 
agencies of industry, the agencies of all ac- 
tivities, that inasmuch as the workers per- 
formed so large a service for society and civili- 
zation, the human side of the workers should 
receive the highest consideration, and that no 
agency of govermnent or of industry should be 
constituted without the representative of the 
workers as part of that agency. [Applause.] 

I never have asked anything for myself. I 
have no favor to ask. I have no personal pleas 
to make. I speak for a cause. I speak for the 
masses of the workers as well as the masses of 
all our people. [Applause.] For, no matter, 
the meanest of all of them, I consider it my 
duty and privilege to say a word for him, even 
when perhaps he might repudiate me. But, as 
the result of this war or crusade, this principle 
for which labor has been contending has found 
recognition in the department of Government. 

My friends, do you know how thoroughly in 
sympathy with the high and noble thought and 
work and associations of the labor movement 
are the members of the President's Cabinet 
and the President of the United States him- 
self? That has come and it is coming to a 
larger extent with every development of our 
time. Does anyone think that Avhen peace 
shall have come again to our beloved country 
and to the people of the world the representa- 
tives of these various agencies will be in con- 
flict? Surely not. The principle is recog- 
nized. Hence this means while we are fight- 
ing for democracy and against autocracy, in 
France and soon in Belgium and then into 
Germany [applause], then in the meantime 



we are fighting to maintain democracy at 

home. [Applause.] 

WHEN WILL PEACE COME? 

Let me say to you that, talking of interna- 
tional conferences with representatives of the 
enemy countries, we are not going to permit 
ourselves to be lulled into a fancied security 
and, under the guise of radicalism, go back 
a hundred jj-ears. [Applause.] Why, the 
Kaiser's minions would not give a passport to 
anyone unless he would carry out the policy of 
the autocracy of Germany. 

Then, to meet in council with these men, 
gaining from us our confidence, swerving us 
from the path of duty, trying to influence us 
that the Governments of these democracies are, 
after all, only capitalistic. I have said, and I 
say it in the name of the American labor move- 
ment — the convention of which in November 
declared it unalterably, the executive council 
of which, in session at Washington last week, 
affirmed it in most emphatic terms, and the 
American Alliance for Labor and Democracy 
reaffirmed it by the resolutions presented here 
this evening — we all say in essence : " You 
can't talk peace with us now; you can't talk 
international conferences with us now. Either 
you smash your autocracy, or, by the gods, we 
will smash it for you. [Great applause.] Be- 
fore you talk peace terms, before you bring 
about international conferences, get out of 
France. [Applause.] Get back from Bel- 
gium, back to Germany, and then we will talk 
peace." [Applause.] 

One of the great causes of this war was the 
obsession of this German military caste that 
democracies are impotent and inefficient; that 
France was a sort of democracy, with an army 
that was in a way inefficient because of the 
long-standing contention of Alsace-Lorraine. 
Germany knew that if she went to war she 
would have a rather hard fight with France, 
but surely would conquer her. She had an 
extreme contempt for the democracy of Great 
Britain and for any army Great Britain could 
raise. To the German mind, as it has been tu- 
tored for this last half a century, there is noth- 



ing efficient except it is governmental unless 
it is directed by an autocratic head. The same 
contempt the Germans had for America. They 
believed us to be such devotees and lovers of 
the almighty dollar that •we could never stand 
for an ideal and make sacrifices for its achieve- 
ment. That is the great mistake which autoc- 
racies have ever made — they do not know. 
They have never known that once touch the 
heart, the conscience, and the spirit of the 
democratic peoples, they will make more sac- 
rifices than any conscripts under compulsion. 
[Applause.] So we find ourselves in this war, 
in this crusade. 

LABOR'S DECLARATION. 

A month before the war was declared, with 
some degree of prescience, the executive coun- 
cil of the American Federation of Labor called 
a conference of the representative officials of 
the American labor movement, and there a 
great discussion ensued, and there a declaration 
was finally adopted. I am going to ask you to 
let me read the closing two paragraphs. 

We. the officers of the national and international 
trade-unions of America, in conference assembled, in 
the Capital of oui Nation, hereby pledge ourselves, in 
pence or in war, in stress or in storm, to stand un- 
reservedly by the standards of liberty and the safety 
and preservation of the institutions and ideals of our 
Republic. In this solemn hour of our Nation's life 
it is our earnest hope that our Republic may be safe- 
guarded in its unswerving desire for peace; that our 
people may be spared the horrors and the burden of 
war; that they may have the opportunity to cultivate 
and develop the arts of peace, liuman brotherhood, 
and a higher civilization; but despite all our en- 
deavors and hopes should our country be drawn into 
the maelstrom of the European conflict, we, witli 
these ideals of liberty and justice herein declared as 
the indispensable basis for national policies, olTer our 
services to our country in every field of activity to 
defend, safeguard, and preserve tlie Republic of tlie 
United States of America against its enemies, whom- 
soever they may be, and we call upon our fellow 
workers and fellow citizens in the holy name of 
labor, justice, freedom, and humanity to devotedly 
and patriotically give lilie service. [Applause.] 

That declaration was adopted by a unani- 
mous vote a month before the declaration of 
war. At the convention of the American Fed- 



eration of Labor in November, the President 
of the United States, that great leader and 
spokesman of the democracies of the world 
[great applause] came and delivered a message 
to labor, and through that body, to the great 
masses of the people of America, and through 
them to the liberty loving men and women 
of the whole world. Did you ever think, my 
friends, of the curious situation in our coun- 
tr}'? The Government of the country carry- 
ing on this war are unanimously pacifists, 
from the President, the Secretary of the Navy, 
the Secretary of War, the Secretary of La- 
bor — all of them ultrapacifists — before the 
war. [Laughter.] 

If a gang of organized assassins were to 
come into this community, ready to pounce 
upon the innocent people, and they came upon 
the block in which you lived, and attacked your 
neighbor on the corner, what kind of a man 
would you be if you didn't get up and at them, 
rather than wait until they came into your 
own room? That is the situation with our 
country and our people in this great world 
struggle. There is not anything that will 
contribute so much to winning this war than 
the unity of spirit as well as the unity of action 
among the people of our country to make, if 
necessary, the extreme sacrifice that freedom 
shall live. I know that it may mean much loss 
and many heartaches, but we know that there 
were sacrifice and heartaches among the men 
and the women of our revolutionary times. 

WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 

Who is there in America to-day who looks 
back with regret on the sacrifices made when 
the Declaration of Independence was coined 
for the world and a new nation created? 
Who regrets that anyone belonging to them, 
no matter how near oV how remote, sacrificed 
his life and his all that America should be 
born ? The war of our civilized life, our Civil 
War, when the struggle was for the mainte- 
nance of the Union and the abolition of human 
slavery, who among the gallant men on both 
sides, or either side, now regrets that the fight 



8 



was made and the sacrifices borne in order to 
make good that this Nation is one and in- 
divisible and that on its shores and under its 
flag slavery is forever abolished? [Applause.] 
Who doubts that ? Our War with Spain, small 
though it was, meant sacrifices. It meant Cuba 
free and independent. Is there a man or 
woman in this audience or in this country who 
regrets the sacrifice that was made that Cuba 
might be made free? 

So the men and the women of the future will 
regard this struggle as we now look upon those 
struggles to which I have just referred. They 
will call us blessed, every man and every 



woman, who has given something to this great 
cause of human justice and freedom, to feel the 
satisfaction, the exultation, the exaltation of 
youth and energy renewed in them in a great 
cause, the greatest that has ever been presented 
to the peoples of any country and in any time. 
It is a privilege to live in this time and to help 
in this common fight. [Applause.] 

With all my heart and spirit I appeal to my 
fellow citizens, to my fellow workers, to make 
this one great slogan, the watchword from now 
on until triumph shall perch upon our arms: 
"Unity, solidarity, energy, and the will to 
fight and to win." [Great applause.] 



WASHINGTON : GOVEENMBNT PEINXING OFFICH : 1918 



021 395 591 3 



